In November 2021, APRA released final prudential standards and guidance that accompany the ADI capital reforms, together with final prudential practice guides in July 2022. In the July 2022 release, APRA consulted on two proposals put forward for consequential amendments to be made to the capital frameworks. The proposals were encouraged to ensure consistency with […]
ReadmoreOn 10 November 2022, APRA released a discussion paper seeking consultation on strengthening superannuation trustee planning in successor fund transfers (SFTs) (Discussion Paper). The superannuation industry has seen a recent spate of SFTs. By way of example, QSuper and Sunsuper merged in February earlier this year to create the Australian Retirement Trust. LGIAsuper and Energy […]
ReadmoreOn 27 October 2022, ASIC released its first publication pertaining to information lodged under the reportable situations regime (formerly known as ‘breach reporting’). By way of background, the reportable situations regime commenced on 1 October 2021. The regime’s purpose was to strengthen the obligations of Australian Financial Services (AFS) licensees and to extend this obligation […]
ReadmoreThe significance of document or data retention, whilst not as fast paced as cryptocurrency or high yielding funds, cannot be understated. Over the past couple of months, we have witnessed some high-profile data breaches that have brought to the forefront a number of questions about how data is retained (as well as destroyed), the obligations, […]
ReadmoreASIC has commenced civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court against fintech company Block Earner alleging it provided unlicensed financial services in relation to its crypto-asset based products and that it operated an unregistered managed investment scheme. ASIC is seeking declarations, injunctions, and pecuniary penalties from the Court. It is tricky territory, given crypto assets […]
ReadmoreThe digital assets world has been rocked by the liquidity run on FTX the week, the world’s second largest exchange, and the near buyout by Binance, the world’s largest exchange. While there are various reasons being put forward for the issues facing FTX, in a febrile environment part of the focus is on custody of […]
ReadmoreThe Federal Court of Australia has affirmed its position that any cartel conduct, as prohibited by the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA), will be treated extremely seriously by the Courts and that in addition to companies involved in such behaviour being prosecuted and fined, that the Courts have every intention to hold individual […]
ReadmoreIntroduction ASIC has commenced civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court against BPS Financial Pty Ltd (BPS) for allegedly making false, misleading or deceptive representations and engaging in unlicensed conduct in relation to a non-cash payment facility involving a crypto-asset token called Qoin (Qoin). ASIC is seeking declarations, pecuniary penalties, injunctions and adverse publicity orders […]
ReadmoreIntroduction ASIC’s Product Intervention Power (PIP) under its Design & Distribution (DDO) regime is still a relatively new tool in their regulatory tool kit. It allows ASIC to stop, or impose conditions on, the issue and distribution of financial products. We have previously considered how ASIC may use the power in connection with overseas financial […]
ReadmoreIt is no secret that the world’s regulators continue to develop laws and regulations relating to cryptocurrency. A recent decision of the English Court of Appeal (Court of Appeal) considered the duty of care of developers of an open-source bitcoin software system. The outcome has the potential to help integrate crypto into our society or […]
ReadmoreThe Federal Government introduced the Financial Accountability Regime Bill 2022 (Cth) (FAR 2022) on 8 September 2022. The Bill reintroduces the Financial Accountability Regime Bill 2021 (Cth) (FAR 2021), which lapsed with the calling of the federal election in April 2022. The Financial Accountability Regime (FAR) will be the most consequential change to the financial […]
ReadmoreYesterday, the Federal Government introduced the Financial Accountability Regime Bill 2022 (Cth). The Bill reintroduces the Financial Accountability Regime Bill 2021 (Cth), which was introduced by the previous Government but lapsed with the calling of the federal election in April. The new Bill is identical to the previous iteration (with the exception of new commencement […]
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